forrest
02-04-2010, 11:32 AM
What's going on in California? Why has the maternal mortality rate risen so sharply?
Nathanael Johnson, of California Watch, broke the story yesterday: More women dying from pregnancy complications; state holds on to report | California Watch (http://californiawatch.org/health-and-welfare/more-women-dying-pregnancy-complications-state-holds-report)
The mortality rate of California women who die from causes directly related to pregnancy has nearly tripled in the past decade, prompting doctors to worry about the dangers of obesity in expectant mothers and about medical complications of cesarean sections.
For the past seven months, the state Department of Public Health declined to release a report outlining the trend.
California Watch spoke with investigators who wrote the report and they confirmed the most significant spike in pregnancy-related deaths since the 1930s. Although the number of deaths is relatively small, it's more dangerous to give birth in California than it is in Kuwait or Bosnia.
Unfortunately, it is impossible to figure out what is going on because the state of California is withholding information on the deaths. We don't know the causes of death, the demographics of the mothers, or the level of care they received.
Although the state of California refuses to release the case by case accounting of the deaths, we can find some information. The California Maternal Mortality Care Collaborative (the same entity that is withholding the complete report) has some startling graphs on its website.
Maternal Mortality | California Maternal Quality Care Collaborative (http://www.cmqcc.org/maternal_mortality)
Nathanael Johnson, of California Watch, broke the story yesterday: More women dying from pregnancy complications; state holds on to report | California Watch (http://californiawatch.org/health-and-welfare/more-women-dying-pregnancy-complications-state-holds-report)
The mortality rate of California women who die from causes directly related to pregnancy has nearly tripled in the past decade, prompting doctors to worry about the dangers of obesity in expectant mothers and about medical complications of cesarean sections.
For the past seven months, the state Department of Public Health declined to release a report outlining the trend.
California Watch spoke with investigators who wrote the report and they confirmed the most significant spike in pregnancy-related deaths since the 1930s. Although the number of deaths is relatively small, it's more dangerous to give birth in California than it is in Kuwait or Bosnia.
Unfortunately, it is impossible to figure out what is going on because the state of California is withholding information on the deaths. We don't know the causes of death, the demographics of the mothers, or the level of care they received.
Although the state of California refuses to release the case by case accounting of the deaths, we can find some information. The California Maternal Mortality Care Collaborative (the same entity that is withholding the complete report) has some startling graphs on its website.
Maternal Mortality | California Maternal Quality Care Collaborative (http://www.cmqcc.org/maternal_mortality)